finding Hotels

     I had decided to make this holiday a totally non camping journey, i would just book hotels as i went, the same way as i had done when i was with Cameron going across Europe in the car, it seems easy to find a hotel in any big city i have ever visited nowadays, next year will be different but this trip and the next along the Danube will be hotels
      i had pre booked my London hotel and Arnhem before leaving home, London was a faff Arnhem was perfect the only complaint and not the hotels fault! was the stupid city tax many European cities charge a tourist tax its only 2 euros something sometime 10 most times 30 sometimes 50 cents its the cities choice, theres talk of Edinburgh starting this malarky i hope not, i paid 3.30 cash it has to be cash at xanten and then also 2,30 at Dusseldorf, which is obviously Germany and Netherlands i know Belgium is also the same, when me and cammy travelled across Europe twice we realised it was just a lottery where did and where didn't charge tourist tax at hotels,

       arriving in cologne i approached reception my phone switched on and open to my booking ,com app. this is my preferred app for hotel booking every ten bookings i get what they call a night free but it ends up a percentage of the price you have paid over the ten stays, which is fine i have had three hotel night now at a reduced rate due to having ten loyalty stays on this app,
      the hotel i was looking at cologne was £10 cheaper on the App than it was at reception so i told the girl i would just book it on line she told me to take a seat and book it then come back, which i done. when i went back her manager or whatever he was, was with her they were chatting in German and talking prices he wasn't chuffed the hotel couldn't compete with the app she was fine but he was being proper arsey! my app said i had paid all taxes he insisted i paid the tourist tax now cash, no problem 2 ,30 euros my receipt please lol where do i pout my bike? now he had me the bawbag yes the garage is for cars we are not insured for bikes, oh yeh insured for a brand new Porsche but not my auld country traveller lol, here is the address of secure bicycle parking at the train station wait i shall show you the way sir. Oh Aye Nae Bovver the auld girl got stripped down and parked on the street!! ive left her worse places! the room was fine no worries that way i didn't pay to have breakfast but its a big city maybe that would have been the price difference
     

   the problem with stripping the bike down was all the tools the pump my lights cycle computer poncho all had to be put in bags to go to the room, these were essential items for the road BUT only when you need them so i set off the next day with all that stuff in a backpack not to hand, there is also that strange worry at the bottom of your stomach you get when you are walking across a busy market square panniers in hand wondering if your bike will still be there! i once got my hut broken into at home and my bike stolen its a horrible feeling to be standing all dressed for a cycle to discover your bike gone and then instead of travelling you are phoning the police
         I just shoved the bag with the lights and stuff in it on the back of the bike and bungied it down i do like my bungie straps, next stay was in Bonn I had a bit of banter and a laugh with the girl at reception she gave me the tourist tax form to fill out in my room, i can pay in the morning. i had chosen that hotel as it had a pool i never used that pool, i did fill out the form but in the morning i took the shoogly elevator down to the garage where the bike was locked up put the keys in the left keys box and sneaked away without paying tourist tax feeling very naughty and laughing to myself for being a law breaker,
           on arrival at koblenz i was in the city centre having a beer with joey i checked my app the hotels city centre were expensive, there was one which i thought was further up the rhine in the right direction a bit cheaper £55 the app said 2.1 miles from your current location (nae problem thinks I)!! absolutely wrong i got so bloody lost trying to find it and it w\s in the wrong direction a different river altogether that feeds into the Rhine i was uphill among a housing estate it was by then dark the bike lights had been packed away in the backpack when i had stripped it down it was drizzling rain, it took me hours to find the hotel in the suburbs and got there as the receptionist was closing up the bar i ordered a beer, i was on the third floor bike locked up out the back two bottles of beer for my room third floor up ten thirty at night, i crashed out without drinking the opened bottles of beer totally knackered,
        in Mainz i learned from my mistakes i would only be staying in a hotel near to where i had stopped cycling, I was in a bar called sixties and the nearest hotel at a good price was called just the postal address it was a good deal though £45, i found it easy enough even though there was no big hotel sign and it was on a street corner, it was an electronic check in you put your booking reference number in a screen and then inserted a door card into a scanner for it to be activated, I hope this isn't the future i like a reception check in! of course it had to be the fifth floor after nearly 70 miles of cycling, also no secure place to keep my bike the auld girl was locked up alone in the street again, stripped of her lights again which i will now put back on in the mornings!

Bonn

it was 13:30 when i arrived in Bonn it had been a superb cycle with only one small section through industrial heartland the rest of the cycle was dreamsville, It was only 25.5miles of cycling so at that time of the day i`m normally looking at lunch then probably a cycle onward? if i was on a tight time scale it would have been a quick scout around the main square photo, takeaway snacks, maybe a postcard to mum and off again, but i wasn't on a tight schedule i decided to have a sit down lunch with a beer, i sent cammy a text telling him my thoughts and after a bit of back and forth and me having a look around town for a suitable lunch spot i decided i would stay for the night in Bonn, i was by then sitting in your usual European market square cafe style restaurant and it was now becoming routine to order schnitzel with something milche frei (once bitten and all that )    i had already ordered a beer a large red one and when i placed my order for food i asked for a large water with another large red beer with a large glass of water  also please? I had been cycling all morning in seriously sunny conditions so a pint of iced tap water was what i wanted between beers, what i got was a wee glass bottle of sparkling! i thought WTF but said nothing, it just means i wont revisit these kind of cafe places again people like me don`t belong there anyway, surely the staff can look at me and think eh no big water

           while waiting on my dinner i had a rake on my hotels . com APP and found a hotel with a pool for less than 60 euro, my mind started to think of a swim in a big hotel so yep the Bristol hotel was booked, i headed over looking to catch up on social media get a cool swim and chillax for a Monday night, that was the plan my room was on the 5th floor the Bristol was probably a top class hotel when Bonn was the capital of west Germany but it was a bit dated now the lift was a bit shoogly and the deco a bit 60s, i decided to wash my T shirt in the sink and hang it on the window to dry, i done some work on the blog unpacked showered and headed out,
      I knew roughly where the centre of town was but not the nightlife i required a post office and a bank both of which i found easily, then i went to a paulaner breuhouse similar to the type i have visited in Munich and Berlin but the staff where crap and it all seemed a bit gloomy, i put a search into google for an Irish bar!? to be sure to be sure there appeared to be four within easy walking distance, i headed off for James Joyce first and found it easily but it was getting a refurb the staff shouted opening soon mate lol, next nearest was the quiet man, i had to go through the main train station and walk up some quiet posh streets but sure to be sure enough there it was on the street corner cracking looking wee bar with a good beer garden and like minded folk,

    it was quiet when i arrived they didn't do Guinness it was Murphy`s i had a pint then another no wifi I was thinking of leaving the barman was south African we cracked up a conversation one more then i will try the beamish, Andrew and his mate ammed arrived they were extremely chatty then i ordered fish and chips and another beer, Hose from Ecuador arrived and then we were all having this conversation an american German a Canadian Indian me and an Ecuadorian German all chatting in English and discussing where best to live in the world and some politics obviously avoiding conflict-ions, I had to leave it was Monday there was talk of a jamming session and good craich i have a cycle trip to move along blogging and social media to do i had to leave, and ended up crashing out asleep no blogging done,

Koln (cologne) whatever your spelling

the cycling that day was also great weather and good cycle paths life was good, I made a slight mistake by loosing the velo15 route into town, as this route hugs the Rhine and is always more scenic somewhere i had missed the wee blue square sign and ended up the B9 road through the suburbs and into the city proper, this B9 road was on my right all the way the Rhine seems to be always busy with boats going up and down each way and on each bank there is a cycle path a main road and a train line following the river the road on this bank is the B9, i had actually no idea of what Koln would be like how big it was if it was modern that sort of stuff, I have a habit of when cycling in from the suburbs if you aim for church spires or tall buildings you will probably be at the centre,for this city it was the spires, they were amazing I stopped and took a few photos around them the whole area was flattened during the war but somehow this huge cathedral was hardly touched,

 on arrival it was still early but i decided i would have a beer and make a decision if i should stay or not, i found an Irish bar had a Guinness and looked for a hotel 

the little blue squares of vello 15 not truly required when you were right on the bank of the river but nice to see and at least i knew i was on the right bank of the river for the cycle path 

you could see the Irish bar from my hotel room window I had got into company with some northern irish fellas in  the bar and a polish girl called anna who was out obviously chasing one of them it was her 30th birthday they were buying shots for her i joined in the celebrations but had whisky not the slippery nipples they were drinking the whisky was 7.60 euros, i never asked for single malts this time though and i don`t know if that would have been more expensive 

leaving Dusseldorf

I had tried to do a bit of blogging before sleep the previous evening but ended up crashing out my alarm went at 08:00 but i hit snooze three times those birthday beers taking their toll! breakfast was ok though and once i was showered and packed i retrieved the cycle from the back kitchen, i had already taken the panniers down to the front door its much easier taken an unladen bike down two flight of stairs,

       it was another glorious day it was Sunday morning but nearly 11 when i was out with the bike in the street thinking of making a move, the church bells were ringing and there was a lot of old people heading into the big church or was it a cathedral? right next to the church was a street pissier which is an on street free to use loo that was getting a clean out by somebody with their van, i guess it would be needing a clean up on a Sunday morn somebody has to do that as a job i suppose
      I went into a tabac store and bought a fridge magnet and water in general when cycling i like to have 2-3 litres of water to drink and some form of hydrolytes i mixed up some water with some Gatorade for the day two litres of water mixed with Gatorade,it was pleasant to cycle out the city on a Sunday morn its a beautiful part of the world i headed down to the Rhine then turned left upstream, over a Bridge past a golf course and shooting range, lots of people were out along the river enjoying little beaches at the waters edge, then all of a sudden  I was in countryside up and over a much bigger bridge, i was on the other side of the Rhine heading north into open countryside with excellent cycle paths

lots of people were using the electric scooters in the city they are really cool if i had time i would have defo had a shot, it was a very pleasant cycle all day only once going through an industrial area beside a busy main road ineos tor! it was called it really isn't far from Dusseldorf to cologne or koln as all the street signs said it was i was there by mid afternoon and although it seemed to early to stop cycling i had came in through all the main suburban streets and then with a combination of cycling and walking through the shopping are found myself in the centre of town at the cathedral it was stunning i stopped to take lots of pictures, there was a group of cyclists there that had cycled cork to koln(cologne) i seen there support van asked some questions and it sounds impressive but actually easy to do, they had cycled it in a week their digs sorted at night no panniers and a support vehicle servicing the bikes only 850km on fast bikes two long ferry journeys for resting, mostly flat and at the end they were all feeling great my mind went racing with ideas! I decided it was time for a quick beer and a bit of decision making i checked google there was an Irish bar nearby, i went along and sat my bike up as some Scottish Celtic fans turned up, two pints of Guinness later and a bit of banter they were there the 6 of these scottish Celtic fans tops on one with a kilt to see the game, it turned out i was supporting hearts that day lol  my hotels .com App was showing a reasonable priced hotel just round the corner i thought yep OK lets get an early day get organised and see a bit of cologne/koln i walked round to the hotel with my laden bike ton see if it would be cheaper at the hotel reception or if it would be cheaper than on my app?

I bought a postcard and some water en route to the hotel who will i send a postcard to? it was very pleasant strolling around the city in the sun but i wanted to be bike free, i loved Dusseldorf and koln was shaping up to be another great city worth the visit,  I have two panniers a backpack my bar bag water bottle tools and rain poncho water bottle and lights all attached to the old girl and she is a stress when i just want to go to the bar and get a beer! it was time to be bike free and chillax, there was some pictures of the devastation suffered by the city at the end of the 2nd world war, which is all sad but i have been to Warsaw and London and the Clydeside! let the person who is sin free throw the first stone!!

arriving in Dusseldorf

     Once i battle through the throngs of people and got into the centre of town i grabbed a cash-line it can be a stress with a fully laden bike getting cash from a cash machine especially when there`s shady looking characters about, but it was all fine it always surprises me how much money the cash line is offering abroad they dont  ask if you want 20 40 or 80 euro they ask if you want 200 400 or 600 and then gives you your cash in 50 and 100 euro notes, nobody would except these sized notes at home but i had no problem at even small shops handing over a 100euro note

    fortune would have it i spotted an Irish bar from the cash-line a good birthday omen i shoved my bike in the corner of the mobbed bar and ordered two pints of Guinness i knew the first wouldnt last long and it would save me going back to the bar i got a seat where i could see my bike with my beers and started surfing the net for somewhere to stay, I soon got bored surfing for somewhere and had a look at this street the Irish bar i was in was also a hotel i tried getting booked in their but couldn't find a reception it turned out fate had found me in a street with three Irish bars i had to stay on this street as a birthday treat there was a hotel called the George over the street my fathers name! i went in left my bike downstairs and asked at reception 82 euro she said i had a look around the hotel i said that is a lot for here she said its Saturday the town is busy you are lucky we have a room! AYE ok then if it includes breakfast and i have somewhere for my bike, i was on the third floor but the ground floor was just a lobby i had to carry my laden bike up two flights of stairs and lock it in their tiny kitchen area

       once out i visited all the Irish bars and had a walk round town i had a sit down Chinese for dinner, the town was heaving a real party atmosphere what a great city it was, i decided i would treat myself to my favourite whisky whilst back at the irish bar i had been texting the HEBway crew and bob had said he wished he was there to buy me a birthday whisky. ordered a balvennie 9 euro 60 holy co-molly bob you would have boaked lol, i had a good night out though a good birthday was had

Xanten cycling Xanadu

The town is a typical tourist town it has a big church with a square this church appears to be on some sort of pilgrims route i was to pass a group of them later with a flag and a cross,I really didn't have much of a choice except to stay here as i wasn't carrying any camping equipment the whole religious thing and roman ruins made the town very old school tourism it was all couples in their 50s upward i typed into google best pub in town it showed a bar that i walked nearly a mile to find it was shut down! i went back to the square and chose a street cafe, the menu was all in German i opted for schnitzel no sauce as i am doing a year zero beef or dairy. it came loaded with cheeses i scraped it off it was fine, but these sort of street cafes are my idea of hell, OK hell is a strong word but i just dont feel comfortable being served, i quickly learned to say milchefrei from then on
       

  after dinner i took a stroll back toward my hotel  as there was a restaurant right below my room i could possibly sit in the street typing while enjoying a beer but alas there was zero WiFi signal in the bar area even with my hotel WiFi code, It was an early night especially for the Friday before my birthday! The Hotel breakfast was good I spend 70% of my life in hotels so i know a thing or two about hotel breakfasts! i enjoyed this one it was much more continental in choices not a lot of warm things but i enjoyed it, I got myself a good feed it was my birthday and the sun was shining i had cash in my wallet and an open road life was good, which i told the ladies at reception  and fished for compliments for how i never looked in my fifties birthday no way lol
    i took my luggage down the elevator to the garage to get my bike and exited once i had loaded the bike up and entered the garage door key code to open the electric door
       The cycle away from Xanten was down to the Rhine and through a nature reserve along the side of a flood dyke,all very pleasant but my knee was hurting i had a cartilage injury twenty years ago skiing in Austria the physio i seen at the time said that it will require to be operated on at some stage, but that was twenty years ago I only really get trouble from it when cycling and even then if i make an adjustment on my seat post length it can sometimes stop it, that`s what i decided to do stop have a snack check my map adjust my seat post
 the spot i chose to stop in was at a sign showing two ways to get to the next place i was aiming for called wessel as i was checking the map fixing my seat etc. a german couple stopeed i asked them which was the best way to wesel after a bit of poor broken conversation i discovered they were following vello route 15 the rhine and the cycling sign posts have a little blue euro sign for that route i should have spotted this sooner but this was the first real time following the rhine due to yesterdays road works,
           This plan should have been ok but once at wesel the blue signs pointed both over the bridge and along the Rhine as you can choose either direction to get to Duisburg my next destination i went over the bridge lost the blue sign and ended up on the main roads cycle path which was fine it was probably quicker but it took me right through a huge industrial area, i was brought up in grange-mouth and thought it was a large industrial town, this area had much bigger factory's and chimneys A huge steel works plus docklands
        I eventually got to Duisburg and stopped for lunch it was my birthday and i had two beers with lunch, and by then had my sights set firmly on Dusseldorf, I eventually rejoined the vello 15 just outside the city but then lost it again i have no idea how and ended up on a dirt track it was fine i could see the cycle path i just wouldn't get back on it for a distance,
      once in the outskirts of town i started to notice a lot of cyclists with the same tops on more and more until i was nearing the local football stadium and realised i was in fact in the football traffic i have never seen so many cyclists ever! it took me ages to weave through them all but it was fun there was a happy atmosphere to it all
       

the open road at last

           waking up in the town centre of Arnhem finding the Rhine and the famous bridge too far seemed an excellent place to start the cycling proper, I had a message from gary which i replied to saying i was up late and would probably not visit the bridge museum and just get cyclng, he said whats the rush surely you can spend an hour so i did, there wasn't much to see really just some films and a few artefacts, i was glad i went though

       I set off cycling upstream looking to cross to the other bank at the next bridge, the first problem off the day propped up just outside of town the bridge was shut for repairs, as i looked at my ,map which i wasn't finding easy due to the fact the guidebook follows downstream route so i am sort of reading it back to front! my big road map not showing cycle routes its just too big a scale and only good for deeingn general direction of towns, i was totally unsure what to do at the road works a woman stopped and started speaking to some workies then asked me where i was going?she said the bridge is shut follow me my husband is meeting me here i need to be at class over the other side of the river we need to go back into town, so i followed them all the way back the way i had came and over the bridge, they were going fast he had an electric assist bike which i asked her why it had a little number plate when we had stopped at traffic lights, she explained it was the speed if you can reach 45kmph you need a number plate, every uphill section he would put his hand on her back to give her a little help, i was up out the saddle to keep up with them and nobody giving my wee back a push, once over the bridge she stopped and said here is your options one was to go back to where we met and swing a detour (sorry she said) the other was take the lovely scenic path to Germany but away from the Rhine, it would rejoin the Rhine later, no way was I going back the way again, i opted for the scenic cycle route and it truly was beautiful the very best cycle paths i have ever been on for miles and miles over 30 miles of perfect cycle lanes the dutch put cycling before cars and pedestrians,
 

    I was still struggling a little at times with reminding myself on what side of the cycle path to be on its just like cars the opposite to us obviously, but i`ve  never had to think about cycling this way really before, i was wishing I had brought the friendship bracelet i use for motorbiking abroad i put it on the wing mirror kerb side, then i remembered since i got my arm pinned and plated i wear my watch on my right wrist now BINGO reminder to myself when in doubt wrist watch to kerb Kenny, this worked for me , i still got caught out occasionally and sometimes because they have cycle lanes on both sides of a carriageway for example, you have cycle lane dual carriageway then cycle lane, you should still be on the right cycle lane but sometimes this went down to one at one side it could get confusing as the days went on, but on this first day it was all totally cycle lanes through orchards by lakes and canals along old disused railway lines through pretty villages very picturesque, on the path to  kleve i stopped to take some photos at a canal in a park with a huge monument up a hill through the trees and asked a passerby if this was the border? he said no you are in Germany! there was no hard border no soft border not even a bloody sign for a photo stop at least we have that at every border crossing in Scotland, i then passed people out cycling up an old railway line on special build peddled carriages with tables for drinks and food very cool i thought,
           i crossed a big river and cycled out the way into njimegen then headed of in the direction of xanten (the x is a sort of z sound) this was a roman citadel, a beautiful tourist town but it was Friday night and it defo wasnt a party town i went into tourist info and basically got sweet talked into taking a hotel booking nfor the night, at hotel nibelungen in the square 80 euros including breakfast oh alright then said i my options were limited now and it would be a decent cycle tomorrow on fresh legs, i checked in and got the garage door passkey to lock the bike up for the night, the hotel had a lot of bikes in its dedicated garage bike room and lots of electric bikes on charge there was alos trikes and recumbent s this area is serious about bicycling

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Arnhem nights

sorry about all these extra blogs but wifi situations blogger app situations! mobile to laptop situations try digi camera google v apple a cluster fuck of computerised conundrums making my life difficult! after my Arnhem cycle/hotel booking/ blog update with good wifi and pleasant 5 mile run around town it was time for food and beer

    first stop most places for me is an Irish bar i found one on the net and headed over it was fine usual fair, Arnhem itself was actually bouncing what a great place, i spent far too long in the Irish  bar drinking my fav types of beer, But i required food  the Irish bar didn't do food, i went for a walk and EVENTUALLY settled on a bar called barley's i love barley but the menu written in dutch turned out to be a Thai restaurant, oh well when in Rome and all that, i had Thai soup and veg curry its truly all i could work out from the menu was beef and dairy free, the beer was high strength half pints i went for their lowest strength, its the 75th anniversary of operation market garden next month and the town is gearing up for it, there was flags everywhere the korn market area is surrounded with bars the place was absolutely jumping but i stupidly went back to the Irish bar, it was fine and i enjoyed my night BUT on the way back to the hotel i stopped at a bar called dollars they bar was  having an jamming session the music was awesome, it was bottled beer for me again too high strength for me at 6.5  it was better that than silly looking supposed half pints of lager the bar maid was giving folk a quarter of the glass was foam!

Arnhem

I got of the double deck train in Arnhem safe in the knowledge i now had lots of time here as I had booked myself into the holiday inn express, so i had a street name and a sort of print out map when i arrived mid afternoon in glorious sunshine, i asked at the info desk how to get to my hotels street the bloke in the kiosk sighed looked at his mobile and checked, take the number 5 bus he said! i said that i wanted to cycle he said no bikes on bus,, i pointed at my bike and said no i cycle there, the look he gave me awakened me to the knowledge this was the bus depots info kiosk not tourist or train info! i apologised!  and he said with a wave of his finger go there pointing at the train ticket office he still didn't get it lol i went outside took a photo of the station and just happily got on my bike to head toward the river with a smile (i later found out the hotel was mega close no need for any bus)
sitting on trains is great but it was time to get my legs moving again

                   I headed off toward the river thinking i would get a better idea of the cities geography from there and it was so much fun i cycled in wonder at the double cycling lanes, obviously i started of by cycling on the wrong side of the cycle path!! an easy fix i just started following the crowd the city was filled with people out cycling whenever i turned a corner i looked to see which lane other cyclist were using, I hadn't had this problem for a while when i motorbiked in countries with the different side of the road i would hang a friendship bracelet from my handlebars kerb side when i drove across Europe i had a roundabout sticker on the window kerb side! this was new and i loved it i laughed every time i got it wrong, unlike in motorised vehicle where it was a bit scary i remember once taking a hired motorbike up a mountain to see a live volcano in sth america and a car was approaching me at speed i was angry momentarily thinking he is was on the wrong side of the road until i noticed it was me not him! after that i put a bracelet kerb side, i made a note to myself next time same bracelet! but had an epiphany i wear my watch on the right hand now since the accident i kept reminding mysel the rest of the trip watch is kerb that mantra over and over at every juncture
             I don`t like having to rely on mobile technology too much but it became apparent google would be a good pal to have for the next half hour or so, and sure enough i got there easily without asking directions?! not that Arnhem is a big place its very compact a beautiful city i had to get out and explore i locked up the bike in the hotel garage and got into my running stuff, i made up my own wee city running tour there is a company called running tours i have used them and enjoy getting a tour from a local knowledgeable runner but i mostly just make up my own in new towns nowadays, this run i decided i would do over one bridge along the Rhine bank on the other side and back over the famous bridge too far then a run round the city sights, which is exactly what happened 4.9miles running and the place didn't disappoint it was very pleasant especially with plenty of road running even through the cities as i could use the cycling lanes yet again i had to laugh at myself as i was caught jogging on the wrong side of the path far too often,

Amsterdam to Arnhem

waking early the alarm was set for 05:10 in my hotel near the saint pancras station for my 07:15 train departure this turned out to be a bit early as i was there for six am so i had plenty time to get through security with all the luggage i had it went through the security search quicker than i did with the ques it all seemed a bit OTT i went through french passport control although i was going to the Netherlands, all good though i had time for coffee and a roll before boarding

     This was my fourth time I had been on the train through the chunnel all the other times i had been with cammy, this was the first time i would be getting the train to Amsterdam though, the last time i was in Amsterdam was also with cammy but we arrived by ferry that time, I've also flown in and out of Amsterdam a few times as a connecting flight, but i have never walked the streets or visited the city centre of Amsterdam, this time was to be no different i was arriving at a train station in town just to swap trains and destinations and leave for Arnhem but i at least got to see plenty of the city from the train window as i listened to my audio-book, the chunnel part of the journey is only 50.45km long and that part seems to put a lot of people off taking this journey, i have taken some fantastic train journeys in my life this one although pleasant and scenic enough almost seems a bit to sterile, the train has a top speed of 334.7kmph. it rarely hits anywhere near that and goes nice and slow through cities, I hadn't previously realised the train would be going through Brussels then Rotterdam before arriving in Amsterdam, had i known that i may well have got of at Rotterdam as that is the end of the Rhine cycle route, It made me a little sad as we passed through Brussels I was thinking of the time me and cammy drove there and took photos outside the European parliament and visited the big brewdog in town, we are those loons in west minster dragging us out of being a part of this beautiful European city, Often while travelling I end up comparing my home country to the one I'm travelling in and on the train journey between polmont and Amsterdam I marvelled at how far ahead Europe was to Scotland, even with our new electric railway and new trains between Glasgow and Edinburgh the stations and connecting transport still fall short of these great European train networks and big stations, also while looking out the window of the train i could`nt help but notice all the fantastic looking cycle paths on that journey

Ping Welcome to France Ping welcome to Belgium then finally Ping welcome to the Netherlands went my phone with my fresh data charges for each country i was travelling through popping up.

I had visited the buffet car but had forgotten to ask about how i got my bike of the train when there and as we approached the station everyone including myself was getting bags and stuff sorted to disembark i got of the train and decided to march to the front as that`s where the guard box used to always be either right at the front or at the back, i seen a guard and asked her? she checked two locked cupboards and said they must be at the back! try carriage 15 or 16 I was now the last person off the train and speed marched all the way down the platform these are long trains! when i got there the doors were locked, some sitting guards inside made some hand movement suggestions that i should go back up the front, but when i was half way the train started to leave! there i was standing on the platform with panniers and other crap but no bike a cycle helmet on feeling a right FUD and cursing euro star dispatch, how was i going to get my bike back now?

I went down the stairs and swiped out the platforms following signs for tickets and info, I seen a rail worker and asked her if she spoke English she said yes i explained what happened and she directed me to the end of the station saying i should get a bike there, when i got there it was a huge cycle hire place there was 100s of red bikes for hire BLOODY HELL she couldn't have understood me i didn't want a bloody hire bike! after an initial debate with myself i thought i would ask the bike hire desk girl where lost luggage was, i asked do you speak English yes she said - i explained the situation she looked at me sort of blank and said is it one of those? she pointed at some bikes gathered at the front of some hire bikes and whoopee there she was the country traveller looking more beautiful than she ever has, i was reunited with my old girl and we were ready to get this adventure moving along a stage

     

  the research i had done on getting my bike on the train in Amsterdam to Arnhem said that Outside peak hours (09:00 to 16:30 and after 18:00), weekends, public holidays and during the summer months, you can transport your bike on NS trains. You just need to buy a bike ticket, at a cost of €6, at one of the vending machines. The bike must be placed in the appropriate spaces, indicated by a bicycle symbol, on the side of the cars! sounds simple enough, but the cost was actually 6.90 for your bike ticket, and it doesn't matter which train you get you just have to buy a train ticket! nobody inspected mine it turned out i was left wondering if i should played the dumb tourist

         I had previously booked a hotel for the night in Arnhem at the holiday Inn express it looked central and was around the same price as my supposedly cheap London apartment, I was now on one of the delightfull double Decker trains as i boarded it there was a family in front of me mum dad and five kids i got talking to the dad would there be space for all the bikes which station are you going to? that sort of stuff, it turned out he and his family were heading home from a few days cycling they had no real gear to speak of but had cycled from their home town veenendaal de klomp to Amsterdam and stayed with friends half way then again in Amsterdam they were now getting the train home its 80km two young kids on baby seats one of which was on the oldest boys bike not mums! how bloody marvellous is that i remember being told i was a cruel dad for taking cammy on the train to Edinburgh to spend the day cycling home,  looking out the train window in Holland i was amazed at the amount of bikes at stations literally hundreds possibly a thousand! i previously thought Copenhagen was cycle heaven i was wrong its the Netherlands, it was 14:30 when i arrived at my days destination and the start of the real adventure Hello Arnhem 

Train to Holland

      A weekend spent at a music festival camped out drinking singing and dancing for four nights is not great preparation for a cycling holiday, don`t get me wrong i had an absolute blast at Tribfest with the old wickerman crew and knew it would be a weekend of excesses, its a journey of around 250miles to sledmere house where the festival is held i had that drive each way this takes time also, I left home on the Thursday morning and returned the Monday evening, i was ready just to unpack shower then start reorganising my stuff for the cycle trip i would have nearly two days to do that, BUT as soon as i went into my house i had the sickening feeling something was`nt right! some low life had broke into my home and raked through all my stuff and stole some cash and jewellery, this was a hassle i could really have done without, i fixed the broken window went out to met bob for beers and called the police in the morning, the next day i completed my packing in-between the police visit and unpacking tribfest camping equipment and other domestic chores, I still had time to go to Laura`s black bull quiz night where gary turned up for a chat no robbery is gonna get me down

           I never booked my cycle onto the Polmont to Edinburgh train it wasn't rush hour and these are big trains on a regular service so not getting my cycle on this train would be unlikely, there was two cycle friendly doors on the train i chose one a distance up the platform last to board and was confronted with the sight of two fully loaded touring cycles in the bike area (no space for mine then) this turned out to be fine i got chatting to the bike owners a Norwegian couple who had just completed the HEB way and were now flying home from Edinburgh, we swapped Instagram accounts and are now following each others adventures, i just stood next to their seats chatting and holding my bike into waverly station
         

     Once in Edinburgh I had to get my train to London the bike was booked on this train and the cycle had its own ticket and coach which nobody checked its reference number or ticket, the cycles are all the way at the very back of the long train i was glad i was at the platform in plenty time. i also had to put the bike in the train station elevator to get to platform nine
      Travelling alone with a cycle can feel like the ultimate freedom which is nice right up until you are in a busy train station and want to visit a loo or shop! Then you require someone to watch your stuff or just risk leaving it abandoned as i done on this occasion, you would be awfy unlucky for your bike or stuff to get nicked but having had my watch stolen of my wrist this year and my house broken into along with all the folk who got their tents burgled at tribfest,i was more wary than i would have been previously leaving my bike unattended at the train station
   I do love the Pendolino train down the west coast and remember fondly a mate of mine called boomer who arranged for Cammy to be up with the train driver on this route when he was a youngster, Cammy knows way much more about this train than i will ever know- how fast it goes how the Pendolino system works on the bends when to toot the horn all that good stuff he loved that day out ( cheers boomer)
     food on the train is sometimes a good excuse to get up and go for a walk, for me its a balance of taking on board food i like or the social walk along to the buffet carriage for hot or COLD drinks? IE; coffee or beer? i opted for the walk and bought a pleasant tilting pale ale made specially for virgin trains,

      I couldn't count how many times i have taken the train up and down to London. I always enjoy it I am usually the east coast route which i do prefer for the scenery but the west coast trains are normally more spacious less crowded, the west coast does take a bit longer also i could have shaved at least an hour from the journey,
      when the train stopped at crewe there had been a disturbance on the line and it caused delays I was sitting on the train and they announced there would be a quicker London train leaving soon from platform six i jumped up and grabbed my stuff, it wasn't until i seen my cycle helmet that i remembered i was part of a team me and the old Edinburgh cycle co/op country traveller touring bike were travelling together on this train i would have to stay, (with the now delayed train) it even lost all power because it was an electric train and they had to switch of the power on the line due to a potential jumper, it turned out in the end the jumper hadnt jumped which is a good thing i don`t grudge whoever my delay apparently i can claim half my fair back because it was over 30mins,
The last time I cycled between London train stations was over ten years ago I had forgotten how busy the roads were and how all the drivers expect you to know where you are going and where you're supposed to be on the roads, I ended up pushing the bike most of the way, it wasn't pleasant either weaving my fully laden bike through crowds in the stations London always seems such a crowded city to me, it took a while to find the euro dispatch office to leave the bike it was way at the back of the station down an alley, i was told to remove the panniers which i was hoping to leave with the bike as this meant i was laden down with two panniers a backpack and the top box, I had to lug all my gear while still wearing a cycle helmet for about a mile to find my apartment
   

It was tricky getting into the door lock system to then get access to a small internal safe with another combo lock to retrieve my room key and hump all my gear up four floors of very narrow winding wooden stairs, the apartment was fine though, it would have made a good base for a few days in London, I opened the window right up and looked out the window sill was low and I stepped back as it felt easy to make a straight drop down those four floors to the street below,
     I had been to the Camden area of London on a few occasions before, the last time I was there was with my mate Sean when i had to phone 999 as we witnessed a horrid motorcycle accident, i had never previously realised just how close it was to kings cross area though as I would normally have been jumping in and out of the underground between districts, there's lots of bars restaurants shops and take away places, I like Camden i opted for a bar called bellushies and seen they had punk IPA on draught six pounds a pint! I wasn't staying there, I remembered there was a brewdog in Camden now and checked my phone for directions it was close so I headed along, everyone that knows me knows I am a fan of the brewdog brand I had brought my brewdog passport with me a book for collecting stamps but I had stupidly left it in the apartment, I would get my electronic stamp when I used my shareholder discount card but being the box ticker that i am i wanted my physical stamp I mentioned this to the barman when I ordered my cauliflower burger and beer, we had a laugh about it then he suggested he could just stamp a bit of paper and i could stick it in my book later! Great idea i said and gave him a piece of paper to stamp for my book, 

cycling it

            Perhaps i should have wrote a whole new blog for this wee adventure because strictly speaking i am hoping not to be doing the journey by road this time, the plan is to take my bike via train to London then on the eurostar to Amsterdam and I had hoped up the Danube to the Romanian Bulgarian border where I would swing into Bulgaria and cycle from there to Velika Tarnovo where my brother Bryan and sister Karen (and Allan)  both own a house,
    

                  The biggest and hardest part of any journey is leaving the front door so I booked the train a while back to set the wheels in motion, Wednesday 21^st of august was the first train that I booked to Edinburgh from Polmont for 11:07 at the very respectable price of £6.90 as I used my over fifty rail card and booked it a month in advance. Next train journey was the Edinburgh to London Euston virgin train which I had to be sure to book my bike on, this was easy enough and free I was given a booking reference number for the bike on my 12:52 train to London, thankfully I planned in having an overnight stay in London as the early morning Eurostar train to Amsterdam was a bit of a hassle for the cycle! First of I had to email them at their dispatch department, then they sent a reply with a telephone number for me to call- it went like this

Hello Kenny,

         Thank you for contacting EuroDespatch. I can confirm that you can take your bike on board if you are travelling between London and Amsterdam.We can take 2 fully assembled bikes and 6 boxed bikes per train.I have checked availability of bike spaces on the dates requested
The cost to pre-book ranges between £30 and £55 depending on how much in advance you make your reservation and whether your bike is fully assembled or boxed/bagged.

  when I made the call I had to give my seat booking reference and was told I would have to book the bike in the night before(lucky i was staying then) the cost would be the £55 of course! This meant the bikes seat cost more than mine which was £42, I then booked a train from Amsterdam to Arnhem £18.12 and apparently i need to get a ticket for the bike you can transport your bike on NS trains. You just need to buy a bike ticket, at a cost of €6, at one of the vending machines. The bike must be placed in the appropriate spaces, indicated by a bicycle symbol, on the side of the cars. with the virgin train costing £56.50 the trains costing total was £178.52 from home to Arnhem not including my London hotel
  

      I would be taking my old touring bike as I had a new one being built this would be a micro`adventure whilst I was still at work, with the intention I would eventually leave this bike in Bulgaria making space in my garage for my new bike, this trip I planned to cycle up the Rhine from Arnhem (not the Rhine`s end which is in Rotterdam) then leave my bike in Mannheim Germany to fly home to go back to work, then later fly back out collect the bike from Cameron`s house near Mannheim on the Rhine, this would have my bike in germany ready take a train to the black forest to the start of the Danube cycle route, the next time out